Now, over the last few weeks I have gone over several aspects of God that I think can be established through or at least suggested by reason. That God exists, that God is reasonable and intelligent, a long term planner, and clearly doesn’t want you to suffer, and loves you and wants you to be happy. I’ll agree that these aren’t as strong a proof as one might have to prove that the square of the hypotenuse in a right triangle is equal to the sum-of the squares of two adjacent sides, but they are all certainly aspects that are all heavily implied by the evidence around us and they tend to reinforce one another. Certainly there is no logical argument against these attributes (yeah that is me daring some silly atheist to challenge my position…I will eviscerate any BS argument you want to try).

Now I will admit that there is a slight problem of describing anything about God. As pointed out by Aquinas, when I say god is reasonable and intelligent it’s not like a person is intelligent or reasonable. It’s more like if you take intelligence “multiply it by infinity, and take it to the depth of forever, and you will still have barely a glimpse of what I’m talking about.” So there will always be some inaccuracy in applying adjectives when every adjective probably needs to be followed by ∞∞ , but I’m sure you can forgive the inaccuracy inherent in human language. However while attributing positive traits to God may be inaccurate, I can talk about things that God is not with complete and total accuracy. For instance God is not stupid, haphazard or cruel.

But while there may not be a logical argument against intelligent, loving and reasonable there are those whose statements and actions imply that they believe God has some very negative attributes that are in direct contradiction to the ones I stated above. Some really evil attributes. And while these people say they worship God, I have a near impossible time conceiving of God holding some of these truly horrific attributes. Quite frankly what they appear to be worshiping isn’t God—it’s some sick perversion of God. And while there are strains of these beliefs in almost all religions I’m going to lump them all together since these ridiculous beliefs need to be confronted as one single disease and not separate problems in separate religions. And since I’m going to refer to them as one thing I’m going to refer to this perverted belief system as the Cult Of Cthulhu (after the demon god from H.P. Lovecraft’s stories)

Note: I’m going to probably be pulling a lot of examples from Abrahamic faiths because I figure my readers are more likely Americans and thus more familiar with those examples. Abrahamic faiths are not the only ones who have problems however and many followers of every belief have a very good tendency of disregarding the BS in their religion’s dogma. Further some people believe in some of these things but not others (If you found someone dumb enough to believe in all this shit that would be a very stupid and disturbed person).
Let’s look at some of these laughably evil beliefs. So in no particular order…

Hate“He [God] will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt; no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet, to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.”—Sinners in the Hands of Angry God, Johnathan Edwards.

Lots of people envision that God is capable of hate. Whether it the classic “Sinners in the hand of angry God” or any modern fire and brimstone sermon, lots of people seem to think God hates some people, that if you don’t follow this rule or that rule and God will hate you. Uh-huh. This is stupid…actually it’s insane. To think that a being that is infinitely wise and infinitely loving could be capable of even the smallest amount of hate is preposterous on the face of it. Basic logic here, if something is infinitely one thing, it can’t be any of the opposite. It would be like having pure darkness at the center of a sun or light at the center of a black hole. It’s such a ridiculous idea that one has to wonder how anyone can hold such a belief with a straight face. God loves everyone, he’s incapable of hate. Now you might say that God isn’t loving but that would require you to say that he isn’t infinitely reasonable (because I think an infinite intelligence and reason would lead to the only logical answer of love) but then God would have to be limited in intelligence, time and knowledge. At which point this seems to contradict every definition of God. What you have left isn’t God…hell it isn’t even Zeus…it’s Cthulhu.
God is not capable of any kind of hate. None. None what so ever. Now really that makes the rest of this blog repetitive…but I feel the need to be specific in the stupid beliefs of people.

Hatred of women“O Women […] I have seen the majority of the dwellers of hell-fire were you [women]” The Haddith

The Cult of Cthulhu has always been a champion of this belief that women are somehow inferior to men (of course the opposite would be equally preposterous). This developed into numerous evils that restrict how women act, dress, and are treated. It has been used as the justification for rape, mutilation and slavery.
To believe that women are inferior to men would require you to believe that God could create something with a soul and free will and yet it has flaws. How could a perfect being create something imperfect? Umm… That doesn’t even make sense. (It gets worse if you admit reincarnation because that makes the idea that gender is even more meaningless since souls go back and forth and it is the soul that gives someone value).
Why would God create a gender which, according to my dear worshippers of Cthulhu, are more sinful, weaker in a moral sense, less intelligent and need to be subservient, and there only as a temptation to men (which would suggest that men are weaker in a moral sense, but there I go using reason again). There isn’t a conceivable reason. I know God works in mysterious ways, but he doesn’t work in batshit crazy and absolutely mentally retarded ways.

Hatred of GaysDo you really think any intelligent God could give a care about your sex life. As long as sex isn’t being used as an emotional escape and drug (which is something people of every sexuality do) I don’t think God could honestly cares. Really how would an act of love and emotional commitment be viewed as wrong? Now if it’s shallow meaningless sex, I could see an intelligent God being disappointed, not hating but disappointed, but that still that has nothing to with who is involved and where they are putting what.

Cause Fear“Are you a God-fearing man [?] That is such a strange phrase. I’ve always thought of God as a teacher; a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding.”—X-men.

The quote above pretty much captures it. Why would we need to fear God? He is a being of light and love. What is there to fear about that? Maybe a little awe at the difference between him and us (which is actually nonexistent)…but fear? What is there to fear about light, love, wisdom and infinity? Nothing. These are the standards by which we judge the good. How can you possible fear the good, and not just the good, but the ultimate good?
To say you should fear God means you must envision something that is not God. Something hateful and evil. Something that harms and is not reasonable or loving.
What a lovely image.

Punishment“We grant them respite that they may grow in their iniquity. But they will have shameful punishment.” Koran 3:178

Or the idea that God punishes. Hell is possibly the dumbest invention human civilization has ever come up with. God would have to be the worst being in existence to create something like Hell. Think of it. A parent or teacher who is infinite and has infinite time, and gives you 30-80 years to learn a lesson and if you don’t get it you’re booted out forever. That would be like a human parent giving their 3-year-old 30 seconds to learn how to read and earn a Ph.D. and if they don’t succeed… into the trash they go. Never thought I would come across a parent that would make the Spartan practice of exposure seem evolved and enlightened, but that’s what you have in Cthulhu. A being that sends people to hell for being slow learners. Because you didn’t grasp an infinite amount of knowledge in a finite time, you burn. How just this false god is.
Oh and for those who believe in Karma, please remember that’s an invention of your soul, not God. It’s your conscience and guilt punishing you, not God. A real God of love only forgives and loves.

Demand Worship“For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” Exodus 10:5

Yes because not only is Cthulhu stupid and crazy, he’s got ego and self-worth issues. Any truly intelligent God would be fairly secure in its infinite nature, but not Cthulhu and his worshippers. No this psycho cult envisions a deity so petty it needs worship. It needs people telling it how great it is that it created a whole universe just to worship it. In case you’re wondering this in not the definition of deity, this is the definition of textbook narcissism.
A being so petty it needed to create creatures to worship it would be sad if it wasn’t evil. Worse yet is the idea that this God gave its creations free will just to subjugate them to eternal slavery of worship and submission. Nothing that is of infinite intelligence and love, while worthy of my love, would ever demand worship…that could only be the request of something vile and disgusting like, Cthulhu…and then of course there are the sad people who would worship such a sad creature.

No sane God would demand worship or submission.

Demand Blind Devotion
I could put a quote here, but just go read the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Lots of people, far, far, too many, seem to think that God requires blind faith in him. Yes, because God gave you free will, reason, intelligence and curiosity just so you wouldn’t use them. Seriously? You think a God who gives us all these things that put us above animals doesn’t want us to use them. To always question and ask. To put no stock in anything, even the revealed word if it blatantly contradicts reason. What kind of psycho God would put dinosaur and intermediate species bones all over the place and carbon dated fossils just to fuck with your mind? This would just be perverse. God gave us reason, he probably expects you to use it. And he gave us faith. Each has their own territory and yes they do overlap in some places…but where reason offers clear answers faith should never trump reason.

Hatred of ReasonCredo quia absurdum “I believe because it is absurd”—stock phrase defense of faith used mainly in the Dark Ages

There is a book actually called The Incoherence of Philosophers that states that all reason is wrong and that God is not limited by such petty things like reason…that you can never understand him because he cannot be understood and thus reason is useless. While this is a fairly extreme view, it’s also a view accepted by millions (possibly even billions) of people on this planet. So again this would mean that our greatest virtue, our brain, is useless. That would indicate God is so capricious, inconsistent, and just plain irrational as to make Zeus a legitimate object of worship in comparison.

Demands Sacrifice and Immolation
“He told me: Stop looking at the Bible as a self-help book. […] It’s about serving God. […] [A better person prays because] there was no benefit to himself.”—The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs

This is probably the worst of the lot. Ask any wacky fundamentalist and they will tell you their life is to glorify God. Really? What a shitty parent God must be. Rather than helping to make his children better and equal to him, he wants praise and adoration. Compared to this petty creature I call Cthulhu, Casey Anthony is parent of the year.
God gave you reason and free will and he wants you to be happy and enlightened. You honor God only by using your faculties to their fullest and being the best you can. Yes every parent may want you to sacrifice to learn frugality and patience, learn to sacrifice the immediate small pleasure for the long-term fulfillment, but for your sake not theirs. A parent wants what is best for their child, not demand their child worship them. How could a being of infinite love be so far below the most basic level of parenting? Obviously any God that isn’t talking about Happiness and Enlightenment isn’t really God, it’s a sick demon.

That God will only give you one chance
“And, inasmuch, as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment“—Hebrew 9:27

As I have said before I find the concept of Hell and punishment antithetical to a loving and intelligent God. Let me ask you, do you think that if you put Jesus, Buddha and Krishna in a room with the worst person you can think of (who doesn’t have legitimate chemical or structural brain problems…although a simple miracle could solve that) and gave them a million years do you think they could save that person’s soul? Now if you say “no” you’re saying that what is right and good and true is not discoverable by reason which means that it is not what we consider right and good and true by any normal definition. After all, you would think with the greatest teachers and infinite amount of time everyone should be able to figure out the truth. Thus God, the greatest teacher of them all, with literally forever to deal with things, should be able to show everyone the correct path and the truth given time. But punishment, hell, and just one lifetime suggest a really crappy teacher. I mean really crappy. A teacher who gives F’s not because they want students to take the grade as an assessment and reminder that they as a student need to work harder and get it the next time round, but one who gives F’s because they enjoy it. What a terrible teacher, he has eternity to teach, but will only give you 80 or so years to learn. Clearly this version of God doesn’t love anyone.

Encourage Hate
“Slay the idolaters [anyone who doesn’t believe your religion] wherever ye find them, and take them [captive], and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush.” Koran 9:5
Let me be really clear here. God has never and will never encourage war and hatred, even of people who are evil. He will be forgiving to everyone, and certainly won’t condemn you for defending your rights, free will, and liberty from the oppressive forces of said evil by any and all means necessary, but he’s not going to encourage you to hate people.

This is beyond obvious. Anyone who thinks that God justifies hating any religious or ethnic group just because they don’t follow the same rituals or look different is apply absolute evil as a characteristic of God. That’s beyond insane. God may encourage you to fight the evil of such beliefs, but not because people are different, but because this or that group want to hurt the innocent, and certainly not with hatred (pity, sympathy, exasperation might all be acceptable emotions in fighting such evil, but never hate). God doesn’t hate and doesn’t encourage hate. And anyone who says he does clearly believes God is evil. And since that would not be God, well we know what cult their beliefs put them in.

A final note
Again there are people of just about every religion who believe none of this and with in that same religion there are people who believe all of this. The individual religion is usually not the problem (although when this shit is official doctrine, it does offer a bigger hindrance) but this is more a matter of individual belief.